Monday, September 23, 2013

One of my favorite books in the Library Company’s collection
is The Book of Trades (Philadelphia:
George S. Appleton, 1851). Produced in
many English-language editions in the 19th century, the book of trades reflects
a trend in early childhood education that originated in 17th-century Europe
with the heavily illustrated textbook Orbis sensualium pictus of John
Amos Comenius. In this version, twenty-three trades are briefly
described and illustrated.

As a book
conservator with a strong interest on bookbinding history – especially concerning
19th-century publishers bindings – this book appeals to me on
several levels. I love the almost-square shape, often used in children’s books.
An advertisement in the back describes many of Appleton’s books for children as
“square 16mo.” The square shape makes for a nice large area for a wonderful
gold stamp of a shoemaker. He is shown actively working at his trade, arms outstretched,
pulling waxed thread as he sews the sole to the upper part of the shoe. The
brown patterned cloth on the cover is the kind that was used for a short time
during the 1840s and early 1850s and is relatively scarce, making the book even
more interesting to look at.

There is an obvious partiality for trades in the publishing
industry:the printer, the bookseller,
the stationer, the printseller, the engraver, and my favorite, the bookbinder. I
am entertained by how bookbinding is too complex for this short piece: “Next
the cover is put on; but it would take a long while to tell you how this is
done.”The last sentence says to “Call
some day at Mr. Appleton’s bookstore, and see some of the binding, done by Mr.
Altemus, one of the best bookbinders in the world.”Joseph T. Altemus, was a Philadelphia
bookbinder who had a large bindery at Fourth and Arch Streets until his death
in 1853. His bindery is the subject of my current research project.

Finally, the
book has a very sweet inscription:

Dear Little Freddie

This book was given to your uncle Freddie
fifty two years ago now I give it to you on your tenth Birthday keep it nice
and when you look at the Pictures and read the storyes think of the other
little Freddie.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

This is the first of a series of blog posts by Library
Company staff about their favorite things in the collection. Picking a favorite book is like picking a
favorite child, except that we have half a million to choose from. But here goes.

Charles Knowlton's Fruits
of Philosophy; or, the Private Companion of Young Married People (New York,
1832) is the first edition of the first popular manual on birth control and the
first book on the subject by a physician.While earlier books had advocated birth control and even hinted at
various methods, Knowlton was the first to describe in detail all the known
methods and to discuss their pros and cons in practical and medical terms.He advocated douching with cold water or with
various solutions of alum or vinegar, which was “sure, cheap, convenient, and
harmless,” and had the added advantage of putting control over contraception in
the hands of women, where he insisted it should be for both medical and
political reasons.

Knowlton was also one of the first to understand the full
impact that widespread knowledge of birth control would have on society.As historian Helen Horowitz wrote, "Fruits of Philosophy is a path breaking
work ... To the traditional insistence of moralists that humanity not engage in
sexual relations beyond what is needed for health or procreation, Knowlton
countered, 'Mankind will not so abstain'. Sex and sexuality, he said, must move
out of the realm of morality into that of physiology."

For putting these ideas into print, Knowlton was prosecuted for
obscenity three times between 1832 and 1834, once drawing a three-month jail term
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.He
published four editions between 1832 and 1839, each revised to respond to his
critics, by which time the book had been almost entirely rewritten.All subsequent editions were based on revised
versions. The first edition is known in only two or three copies and it has
never been reprinted.

As remarkable as this book is for its content and for its
impact on society, its material form is even more remarkable.It is tiny, 3 by 2 1/2 inches, a format up to
that time used mainly for miniature abridgements of the Bible.Our copy is bound it its original beige cloth with a printed paper label, in near
pristine condition. This format made the
book private (as the title has it), easy to conceal under the counter, on one’s
person, and while reading. In fact it is so small and delicate that it is hard
to turn the pages. There is no other
book quite like it.

We acquired it in 2005 in honor of Charles Rosenberg, and
with his help.Dr. Rosenberg has taught
the social history of medicine at Penn and Harvard, and he is a pioneering
collector of popular health books, many thousands of which he has donated to
the Library Company.Like all collectors,
his favorite book is the one he just got, and the one he regrets the most is
the one that got away.For Dr.
Rosenberg, the one that got away was Fruits
of Philosophy.He passed up a copy
of a third edition long ago when he was a young professor because it was just
too expensive.We bought this New York,
1832, edition for him thinking it was the second, but on closer examination and
by comparison with other copies, we realized it was the first.That was just one more reason to love this
little book that changed the course of history.

Subscribe To

Follow by Email

The Library Company of Philadelphia

The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Open to the public free of charge, the Library Company houses an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, prints, photographs, and works of art. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company is America's oldest cultural institution and served as the Library of Congress from the Revolutionary War to 1800. The Library Company was the largest public library in America until the Civil War.

The mission of the Library Company is to preserve, interpret, make available, and augment the valuable materials in our care. We serve a diverse constituency throughout Philadelphia and internationally, offering comprehensive reader services, an internationally renowned fellowship program, online catalogs, and regular exhibitions and public programs.